SPORTING ESTATES in the Angus Glens have made a five-figure donation to help keep a vital rural community hub alive.

The Glenesk Retreat and Folk Museum at Tarfside was purchased by the local community in 2005 through a mix of fundraising and private and public sources. Originally the brainchild of a local Head Teacher, Miss Greta Michie MBE, back in the fifties, the Retreat has been a major part of life in the Glen for decades.

As well as housing rural artefacts of national importance, its restaurant, tea room and shop provide a focal point for events and family gatherings and a welcome drop-in for walkers. However, its remote location, nine miles from the village of Edzell, means the hidden gem cannot attract the level of additional footfall required to generate profit.

But a donation of £20,000 from local estates, helped by letting rental from a driven grouse shoot, means the venue will continue in 2016, following the winter close-down.

An 'altruistic arrangement' has been brokered which sees three sporting estates - Invermark, Millden and Gannochy - meet the Retreat's trading shortfall, helping to keep the popular community resource going.

Angus Councillor and chair of Glenesk Trust, Bob Myles, said: "These donations help keep the Retreat viable. The Retreat and museum is a great attraction in a rural community but it needs money to keep it going. Without estates contributing towards it, I think this facility would close."

The estates involved are members of the Angus Glens Moorland Group, established this year to highlight the role estates play in community wellbeing and life. Co-ordinator Lianne MacLennan said: "We recently held a Community Open Day at the Retreat for families and kids, many of whom are children of the gamekeepers or staff who live and work in the glens. It is a great venue and it is important the estates here continue to support it."